Editorial: For Obamacare foes in the GOP, 'replace' is the tricky part

As soon as President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, hotly opposed congressional Republicans adopted the mantra “Repeal and Replace.” In the House, repeal proved to be the easy half of the slogan. The lawmakers have voted to do so more than 50 times.

The Senate proved a different matter, with a Democratic majority and GOP senators who were frankly unenthusiastic about a fight doomed to futility. But, depending on the outcome of the November elections, the Senate could have enough Republicans next year to vote for repeal, and perhaps even enough new members to override Obama’s inevitable veto.

That would take care of the “repeal” part of the pledge. The “replace” part has proved a much harder challenge. With the legislative year almost over, Republicans still don’t have an alternative and are deeply divided about what should be in any replacement bill.

Republicans are agreed on some facets of their plan — allowing insurers to sell across state lines and small businesses to band together to buy policies for their workers.

But as the Congress-watching Politico points out, “They don’t agree on how comprehensive reform should be, whether some tasks should be in state or federal hands, and what it should cost.”

Then there’s the question of how to pay for it. Some propose standard income-tax deductions of $20,000 for families and $7,500 for individuals, and refundable tax credits for those who don’t earn enough to pay taxes.

Many Republicans believe — and they’re absolutely correct — that the party owes it to voters to put forth a comprehensive plan before the November elections so voters can see what they’re getting when they pull the GOP lever.

Also, GOP leaders have a well-founded fear Democrats will do to their plan what they did to Obamacare — pick it apart with constant sniping and misrepresentations, “death panels” being among the most notable.

The longer Republicans wait, the more the ACA takes root in the American public.

A Brookings Institution health expert calls the GOP proposals to date “weak tea.” After three years of dithering, the party should put forward a robust, realistic alternative to the Affordable Care Act or swallow its pride and work with the Democrats to fix the flaws in the ACA.